Do I have a rooster?

[grammaC]

How and/or when would I know if I have any roosters in the bunch? My chickens are 12 weeks old. I haven't heard any crowing and can't see any one being more aggressive or "top of the heap" than the others. I have 10 RIRs and 10 SLWs. Ordered all hens, so maybe that's what I got?

 

[brownboi2012]

post pics, theres alot of very experienced peeps around here that can help

 

[HEChicken]

If you ordered all hens there's a good chance that's what you got. Most of mine have started to crow around the 16-17 week mark. Things you can look for:

Comb that is larger and redder on one bird than the others
Wattles that developed sooner than on some of the others
Hackle (neck) feathers that are narrow and pointy
Saddle (in front of the tail) feathers that are narrow, pointy and hang towards the ground

You can also post pics of each individual bird that is questionable on this thread and people will be happy to take their best guess.

 

[grammaC]

Thanks, everyone. I inspected the birds today while they ambled about. None of them looked much different than the others. In fact, I was hoping to name them at some point, but I can't tell them apart! I guess I must have received all hens...which is a good thing!

 

[AndyCap]

Hey GrammaC,

My Cockerel only started crowing at 18 weeks. But the hackle and saddle feathers developed at 15 weeks.